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Thursday, September 07, 2006

Parole Nixed For Leslie Van Houten Again

The California Board of Parole has denied convicted Manson Family Killer for the sixteenth time. Van Houten has been in prison for nearly four decades after being convicted of killing Leno and Rosemary LaBianca during a horrific home invasion at their Los Feliz Home in 1969.

According to corrections spokesman Tip Kindell, the board determined that Van Houten still presents a risk to public safety.

The board heard from three perennial witnesses, two relatives of the victims and a prosecutor opposing Van Houten’s parole. For the first time at a parole hearing, Van Houten and her attorney refused to talk about the macabre details of the crime with board members. L.A lawyer, Christy Webb did most of the talking on Van Houten’s behalf.

The Board members recognized Van Houten’s exceptional progress. Instead of making her wait another two years for the next hearing the board ordered another review in 12 months with the admonishment that this does not mean she will in fact be paroled then.

The Manson Family members and Robert Kennedy’s assassin, Sirhan Sirhan are among inmates having served the longest time in a California prison. Gregory Powell is another senior inmate who's been in custody since 1963 for the kidnapping of L.A. police detectives Ian Campbell and Karl Hettinger. Powell and Jimmy Lee Smith executed Detective Campbell while Hettinger was able to escape with his life. Powell was already an established career criminal when he murdered Campbell.